Spirit Moon
by Mahou Shoujo Crystalic Katomi
Summary: Halloween special oneshot. Repton and his brothers journey to see a special ceremony preform. What awaits for them at this ritual? Shows Raptors at a very young age.


_**Spirit Moon**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks. However, I do own an OC appearing in this story.

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It was that time of the year again. When the moon is full and red as blood, mischievous spirits crossover from the spirit world to dance under the moonlit glow. It is also when the newly dead travel to the other side under the safety of the red moon, but evil spirits tried to consume the souls. So, it is the customs of the Raptor shaman to guide them towards the land of dead. It is a grand spectacle that made all the Raptor children wanted to see, but their parents put them to bed before it starts because of the fear of losing their young ones to the evil spirits. Thus, all was silent on this night.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

… Well, almost silent.

"It's gonna get me! It's gonna get me! It's gonna get me!" yelled a five year-old Leugy, who was screaming really loud and grabbing his slightly older brother, Repton. He and his brothers were out of bed in order to see what was so special about this night anyway. Hidden in the brush, the four were trying to get a good view of whatever was going on. There was just one problem… Leugy was scared out of his wits.

The eldest turned to his younger brother with a glare, bopped him and quietly yelled, "Ssshut up! If you don't ssssstart ssssscreaming, mother will come and kill ussss!" The four were taking a pretty big risk of going out during this night, not only did they have to worry about the monsters; they had their mother to worry about. If she found out they were out, she was going to punish them with… Whatever she was going to do to them. And being scared wasn't practically helping their chances of seeing the shaman at work.

The tubby lizard looked at his brother and apologized, "Sorry, Repton." Hoerk just rolled his eyes at the sight. He really didn't want to sneak out to see the spirits travel to the world of the dead. In fact, there were a lot of things he didn't want to do that he had done anyway; one of them was being carrying a sleeping Spitz on his back. But he was doing it anyways, while watching Repton threatening Leugy. This really made his night.

Suddenly, a voice called, "Aren't you boys supposed to be in bed?" All three of the brothers froze as they turned to see the frightening glare of their mother. She looked really mad today, probably because they snuck out without her knowledge.

Spitz woke up and said, "Are we at the thupid thhaman'th ceremony-thingie yet?" Now, they were really caught. It was bad enough that they snuck out, but to admit to that they were going to see the spirits and insulting the shaman, they were really screwed.

They were about to ready themselves for the hit until they saw their mother smiling. "Heh, just like your father and me when we were young," she said, before turning around, "Come on, she's about to start." The mother Raptor started to walk with her kits following behind her; they were glad they were getting to see the spirit ceremony. As much as it was scary to be eaten by an evil spirit, they knew it wouldn't happen as long as their mother was around.

Once finding a clearing that showed the greatest view of the moon, the Raptor family sat down and started at cliff. The sky was at its clearest when the family sat down. Now, the only thing they had to do was wait…

And wait…

And they waited for about a long time until Spitz asked, "What'th tho important about thith thupid ceremony anyway?" Repton whacked the youngest with his tail; no one had the right to insult the Shaman like that. It was a taboo that all the adults had to teach their children some time or another, or else bad things would happen.

"The ceremony isn't stupid," his mother said, turning her head to the kits, "It is to honor the dead and to guide them towards the spirit world." Then, she turned to the moon again and added, "There, the spirits live until they decided to go back to the living again."

"Why do they have to wait before going back to the living?" asked Leugy, a little bit confused. He was wondering why the spirits needed to wait before coming back to life again. It was just strange.

The older lizard thought for a while before answering, "I think it helps them decide to take on a new life. Forget the things that were in their previous time and try to become something they weren't. Of course, they don't remember anything once they are born again."

"Why can't they come back to life as they used to be?" asked Hoerk, continuing to look up at the cliff. Why did the dead needed to wait so long to be reborn again? What if they came back just as they were when they die? He just didn't get it.

"I think they want to re-experience the cycle of life again," the mother raptor said, before explaining, "To forget whatever they did, to start over with a clean slate. Whatever the reason is, that is the way of nature. But there are people who know how to bring dead."

The three older raptor brothers nodded; it made sense… sort of. They were also amazed by there were people, including the lizard medium. If there were people like that, then they must be really powerful. Spitz, however, was very dissatisfied.

"If the thhaman was that powerful, why can't thhe bring all the people that died back to live?" he asked, before getting whacked by Repton again. The younger's lack of superstition was being a pain to them; it was either because of the lack of a male figure, or just him being the runt. Of course, the whacker also received a whack from his mother.

Then, she turned toward her kin and answered, "Because just like life, death is natural." Suddenly, as things gotten quiet, the wind started to pick up. All the raptors turned to the cliff to see a lone, crouching figure in a robe, swaying a bowl of something sweetly burning into the mourning air. It was very scary on a night like this, but by now, the younger four all assumed that it was just the shaman, preparing for the ritual.

A few seconds into the future and suddenly, a cluster of lights started to form around the creature. They started to move from her and towards the moon, like a river heading towards the ocean. More lights joined and started to the path. Some were straying, while others move faster than the rest. It was like a light show, but without the expensive equipment. The Raptor family watched with awed; it was the most amazing sight they have ever seen.

The souls continued to journey towards the moon until the lights were becoming less and less. Soon, all the spirits were safely in the land of the dead, safely to rest until their new lives start. The shaman looked towards the moon before heading back towards her home. It was late and nothing was supposed to be out; well, except for a family of sleeping lizards. The only one who was awake was Repton as he was looking towards the moon. He still had something on his mind as he nudged his mother gently.

"Hmmm…" she grunted, before turning to her eldest son. Then, she asked, "What is it, Repton-sweetie?" It must have been important to her offspring if he was willing to stay awake for this long.

Repton breathed in before asking, "Issss father up there?" His mother smiled and nodded, before heading back to sleep. Seconds later, he turned up to the moon and said, "Don't worry, father, I will protect the clan like you would."

And it was a silent night after that.

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Happy Halloween, peeps! To celebrate this unholy night, here's a story about the spirits of the dead. Yes, most people during this time would write horror stories and other things that can scared your pants off, but I went with what the people of the past truly thought what Halloween was about. That and I am no Edgar Allen Poe.

You can see that this story is about the Raptors as kids and one of their high jinxes. I had many scary ideas, but most of them ended in very funny situations. And others, well, just stank. I also have another story about them, but it is still in the process of being written. It would show them being a little older than this as well.

Also, this and the other story have some link to my Atmos/Gaia series. If you recall, there was a part in the first where Hoerk was about to tell them what really happened to their mother. Now, this only shows their mother, but the next one will probably explain why Repton shredded a Murk Raider, hint hint.

For ownage, I own the Raptor Shaman, AKA Mee. If some people would like to use her, contact me first, and then credit it in your story if I give you permission to. Other than that, I own nothin'.

Happy Hallow's Eve peeps!

Please Read and Review!


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